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Summary List of stories Phase II Night: Ashes, Metal, And Corruption << chapter 57 Chapter 58 of 75 Growing Up Is Hard To Do chapter 59 >> << previous scene Scene 1 of 2 next scene >> Location Participants Time Summary Prologue | Phase I | Phase II | Epilogue 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 Text Antares Mīrus was running along the path towards Ponyville, groaning and shaking his head violently as the pack on his back rattled: he was going to be late. The very first day he'd been allowed to run this path alone... and here he was, already screwing it up, already going to be late to meet his family at the library. He breathed hard as he shot down the dirt path, his strong body flexing: he was a good six inches or so taller than the average height for ponies his age, and his limbs and body were toned and athletic. His mane and tail glowed with a faint almost-phosphorescence before his cyan-green eyes widened as he caught sight of a manticore ahead, the lion-headed beast snoozing lazily in the path as its scorpion tail twitched... and if he'd learned one thing, it was that manticores did not take kindly to being woken up. He gritted his teeth, then he leapt upwards and spread his leathery wings: they were wide, strong and powerful, perfect for short, quick flights... although if he stayed up in the air for too long, he very quickly began to get aches that would last for up to days. But they were more than strong enough to handle a short, brisk launch up into the air, giving the manticore a wide berth before he easily dropped back towards the ground, half-twisting in midair to kick off a bent tree and propel himself smoothly back to the path and into a straight sprint. It was late autumn, after his sixth birthday, after Nightmare Night, and Antares breathed easily as he propelled himself as quickly as most adult ponies could sprint. After his third birthday, his mother had taken to training him more and more, preparing him for everything that laid ahead... and while Antares still wasn't very good at magic despite the tall, proud black horn standing up from his head, Luna constantly crowed over how talented he was in the field of acrobatics, and had been focusing her training more and more on evolving and enhancing these skills in her son. For Antares, the last few years had been a mix of long periods of peace, and long periods where so much had happened, so fast. He could only recall bits and pieces of it, however: he was still a young child, after all, for how smart and strong and big he was getting. But some things he thought he'd never really forget... Scarlet Sage had moved out about three years ago, and moved into a small townhouse with Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had moved in with them for a little while, but it had quickly gotten a little awkward and uncomfortable, and the two friends had moved out to live with other friends. It was simply hard for the two mares to live with two other young mares who were in a relationship, who were on the fast-track to growing up, and who had a whole lot of eccentricities that were mostly hidden when their friends weren't present twenty-four-seven. Scarlet Sage, meanwhile, was working at a local medical clinic, and known as something of a 'miracle healer' for those who were in truly awful conditions. With her powers, Scarlet Sage was able to heal moderate and severe injuries, break up blood clots, and even cure certain diseases... but it required concentration, and Scarlet Sage didn't like to use her powers unless absolutely necessary. But she was putting her abilities to use for the betterment of ponies, and even Celestia had told her quietly that accepting and controlling her powers was a far better choice than trying to hide from them. Apple Bloom was now a junior engineer working on her own in Cowlick's lab: Cowlick actually had refused to let the earth pony mare take a job elsewhere in the facility, making it very clear she wanted to keep the mare beside her, wanted to keep training her personally, and she trusted few other ponies in the building more than she did Apple Bloom. She wasn't as experienced, but she had passion, she had creativity, and best of all she could put up with Cowlick's mood swings and wasn't afraid to return fire when the situation called for it. Cowlick herself was now raising a happy little colt she had named Rustproof. He was a bright young earth pony, with an indigo-blue body and a bright orange, shoulder-length mane that tended to spill and corkscrew in all directions, just like his tail. Ironically, Cowlick herself had taken longer to adjust than Ross: after a week, Ross had been able to hop out of bed to tend to Rustproof regularly and happily, but Cowlick had never really adjusted to having her sleep interrupted almost every night. He was growing fast: he would likely be quite a good sized stallion when he was an adult, and Ross was incredibly gentle and patient with the colt. When Rustproof cried, Ross was always there immediately to try and make things better, although some days he'd panic a little... but at the same time, having the colt around was good for Ross, helped him with his own problems. He was caring for a life, he was experiencing a wider array of emotions than he'd ever known, and he was learning to push his own anxieties aside for this little pony who Ross treated like his own from the first day Cowlick brought him home from Manehattan. Cowlick did everything she could for her little Rusty, even if she could seem a bit overbearing and overprotective at times, and her natural loudness wasn't always a help. She honestly loved the foal though, anypony could see that. She had her faults, but no one could say she wasn't trying her damnedest, and that she wasn't a far better parent than Narcissa ever would have been, considering she was apparently already back in her labs and hadn't sent her two year old biological child so much as a card for his birthday. Cowlick had taken the child, signed some papers, paid some money... and that had been that. Rustproof, despite being years younger than Antares and his friends, Avalon and Meadowlark, still often ended up being watched by them or fumbling along, trying to play their games. It could be a little awkward, but Rusty was capable of listening and following simple instructions, and he simply liked to sit and marvel over the big kids and everything they did. Antares didn't mind his company, and Avalon acted like she did but had more than once stood up for him, and Meadowlark only complained when she was in a bad mood and because she was the oldest foal there by a year and a half. Avalon had barely grown more than a few inches over the last few years, but she was not a five year old to be laughed at. She played aggressive sports with fillies who were years her senior and perhaps triple her weight. But Avalon was as solid now as she had been as a baby, and now she had learned to channel all the fury and energy her tiny golden yellow body could muster up into sports, competitions, and games. She was like a miniature, unstoppable guided missile when she took to the air, and Rainbow Dash was convinced that his daughter was going to end up being even faster than any speed he'd ever reached. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were still running the farm with Big Mac, and Soarin' had taken up a permanent residence there as well, helping out regularly. The only time he took off was to go and visit Spitfire in Canterlot... Spitfire, who unfortunately had never really recovered from the savage beating she had taken from Courage. Her balance was off, and her short-term memory had been damaged, and while she still loved to fly, she always had to do it with someone watching out for her these days, to make sure she didn't fall... to make sure she could find her way back home. It was another reason why they were determined to stop Clockwork World: although these last few years had been peaceful apart from a few skirmishes with Drones and a few other monsters from Clockwork World, Celestia was preaching not just vigilance but preparation. And after the attack on Canterlot, the Barons and Baronesses had been all too willing to listen to her, again pushing her to take the throne... but again, Celestia had politely declined, saying quietly that it would remove her from where she needed to be. Even made up of the different baronies and ruled by the Royal Council, however, Equestria was still united, and ready to stand as one against Decretum. And the Starlit Knights had been reborn and reformed at the request of not only Celestia, but almost every soldier who had taken part in that doomed mission to North Neigh so many years ago now. This time, however, their task was the defense of Equestria against outside incursions, and it wouldn't simply be a regiment of troops from Canterlot and Ponyville... they would be comprised of the best ponies that could be gathered from across Equestria, to form entire armies that would be ready to fight back should Decretum make its move. But Ponyville would be the hub, where their efforts would be concentrated: none of them had forgotten, after all, that not only were Luna and Scrivener in Ponyville... it was where Celestia spent most of her time, where Odin visited, where all their friends and family were. It was the place Valthrudnir would hate most and had already attacked more than once. Where Courage's invasion likely would have taken place, if Kvasir and everyone else had been there instead of at the jubilee in Canterlot. Thankfully, it was a double-edged sword: although Clockwork World's attacks would likely continue to focus on Ponyville, the ponies they would seek to hurt would also be the ones most ready to defend themselves. And these ponies were still strong, still in their prime, even if so many years had gone by now... Antares could sometimes hardly believe it: after all, even his Dad was more than forty years old, even if he looked... well, it was hard to judge Scrivener's age by looks, with all his scars and how weathered he was. But his Mom, on the other hand, had cheerfully bragged that she was fifteen hundred years old, even if she acted more like a hyperactive fifteen year old than anything else... and Antares had been awestruck when Celestia and Sleipnir had both confirmed it was true, and that they were even older. Then Luna had smugly pointed out they had both technically died, and that made her the oldest sibling now, but that had led to Sleipnir wondering awkwardly if he was dead or alive, then pausing and turning to drag Pinkamena off so he could 'find out.' Luna had grumbled, then she and Celestia had left with the colt. Antares smiled to himself at these memories, then sighed in relief as he bolted out of the Everfree Forest and towards Ponyville, which was bustling with cheery activity. The town itself had grown a little more, and Antares smiled as he passed the animal shelter run by Fluttershy and Nirvana that now had quite a few ponies on staff, the colt leaping into the air to wave as he saw the blonde Pegasus herself standing in front of a group of Phooka. She waved back at him, and Antares dropped back to his hooves, wishing he had more time to go and spend with her: she was a pony that, despite the difference in their ages, he could honestly call a friend. She understood things that a lot of other adults didn't and she was always gentle and kind, and he adored the way she worked with animals. And both his mother and his father had a world of respect for her, and said she was stronger than most ponies would ever know, no matter how meek she seemed. Antares ran between the gates, tossing a hurried 'hello!' to the Nibelung guards as they stared at the surprisingly-fast colt, but Antares knew he was still running late. Even as he forced himself to charge forwards as fast as his hooves could carry him, he knew there was no way he could make it in time... and then his eyes widened in horror as a white unicorn in large, black-rimmed sunglasses with violet lenses strode into his path, her mane a mix of blues and stylish and loose. Antares skidded to a halt only a few feet away from the famous Vinyl Scratch in a puff of dust, who was DJ and owner of a now very-successful nightclub in Ponyville, and who performed for parties at Canterlot and in places as far away as Manehattan. Antares stared at her as her head slowly turned towards him, then she flicked her muzzle down, red eyes glaring overtop her sunglasses as she opened her mouth and one of her Nibelung bodyguards stepped forwards... but then she held up a hoof quickly, grinning slightly as she eyed him with interest. "Hey, wait! I know you, kid, you're the Baroness's nephew! The one she's real sweet on, isn't that right? Well, what a coincidence, you bumping into me when I was just talking about how I have a big show in Canterlot coming up soon. Be a huge boost for my business if I could get a little endorsement from the Baroness herself..." "I... I really gotta go..." Antares said awkwardly, trying to hurry around Scratch, but the unicorn clicked her tongue and there was immediately a large Nibelung standing in Antares' path, glowering down at him with his arms crossed. Antares stared up at the dwarf, and Scratch cleared her throat pointedly, getting the dwarf's attention before he dropped to a more relaxed posture... but his eyes still dared Antares to try and slip past, as Scratch said quickly: "You know, I heard it's your birthday coming up soon, isn't that right? I don't usually do private parties or kid's parties, but hey, I could make an exception for royalty, you know." She winked at him pointedly, and Antares fidgeted before answering honestly: "But I'm not royalty. My aunt's the Baroness but my mom's just my mom and my dad's my dad. I'm just a kid. And my birthday was last week." Vinyl Scratch looked less-pleased now, and she rolled her eyes before pushing her glasses back up, asking seriously: "But the Baroness is real fond of you, yeah? And the Baroness sure as heck loves her sister, everypony knows that. I bet she'd do anything for her... or for you. So maybe you should think about that, and think about how sweet it would be to have a top-notch, soon-to-be-world-famous entertainer perform at a party for you." Antares hesitated, and then he slowly looked over Vinyl Scratch as he took a slow breath, his eyes locking on her cutie mark of a music note before he asked quietly on instinct: "Why did you get into music?" Vinyl Scratch frowned at him, then she said slowly: "Who's... never been into music, kid? I grew up with it in my veins." "I didn't mean that. I mean, your cutie mark. You didn't just get it from listening to music or playing music, did you?" Antares let his instincts guide him, not even completely knowing what he was trying to do as he leaned up curiously. The unicorn mare laughed awkwardly, tossing her mane and saying hurriedly: "I... I'm real good at music theory, that's how I got it. See, you don't just drop the record and then start scratching away at it, you gotta understand the music, you gotta-" "You were a musician. You got it because you played an instrument, you... played it differently than any other pony did before..." Antares bit his tongue in concentration, looking curiously up at Scratch as the ivory unicorn seemed to pale. "But you reinvented yourself, because you really are talented at music theory and you really do know-" "I have no idea what you're talking about." Scratch almost shouted, and then she turned and hurried away, the Nibelung bodyguards looking stupefied before they ran quickly after her, and Antares sighed in relief before he stared up at the sky, then yelped and bolted forwards down the street, almost whimpering to himself. Oh no, no, no, now I'm really late! The foal reached the library some fifteen minutes after he was supposed to be there, and he grinned weakly as he skidded to a halt in front of a fuming Luna. Scrivener was sitting awkwardly beside the sapphire mare, and no pony else was in sight as the winged unicorn glowered down at him before Antares said hurriedly: "I can explain!" "Thou art late! And Scarlet Sage has already come and gone, I told thee to come early or at least to be on time because she would only have ten minutes, it has been at least, fifteen... sixteen!" Luna said in a frustrated voice, and Antares shrank back, looking embarrassed. "Thy sister left the clinic to come see thee, used up her lunch break, for Odin's ugly sake was thoughtful enough to pick thou up a sandwich on the way here, and waited for thee for ten minutes! I knew it, I knew it, Antares, I knew that we should have brought thee here with us!" "Mom, mom wait, I can explain!" Antares said quickly, shaking his head violently. "I swear it's not like... yesterday or... or the day before or well..." "Or the day before that, or that, or that?" Luna asked pessimistically, and Antares blushed deep red, nodding lamely even as he shrank back, and Scrivener sighed, not knowing whose side he was on: Antares, as of late, had been having a problem with several things. He was still wonderfully well-behaved, always did his best, and was talented and strong and smart... but he had also started to be a little careless, accident prone not just because of bad luck, but because of a lack of focus, and had picked up his father's bad habit of waffling back and forth on decisions and his mother's bad habit of taking jokes too far. In the last week alone, Antares had accidentally broken three cups, ruined an oil painting Luna had done – thankfully only a landscape – left a slice of chocolate cake on the floor during a visit to Sugar Cube Corners and allowed now fully-grown Kǫttr to gobble it up and have a hyperactive fit that had wrecked half the store, dropped one of Twilight's books in the bathtub, and completely reorganized the office in an attempt to be helpful that had made both Scrivener and Twilight curl up in a corner, mumbling in horror about all the time and effort it was going to sort everything back out by genre and chronological order. Antares looked nervously up at his mother as Luna glowered down at him, but finally, she sighed and looked at him moodily, saying grumpily: "Very well, Antares, I shall give thee..." She looked moodily up at the sky. "Five minutes to explain thyself. If thou does not provide me with a sufficient reason within that time why thou art late, then I shall be forced to punish thee. And rest assured, Antares, 'twill not be pleasant." The colt winced, then he took a moment to gather his thoughts as Luna looked down at him grouchily before he looked up, again trusting in his instincts as he said finally: "I was... probably going to still be late. But I would have been here a lot sooner if I hadn't been stopped by Vinyl Scratch." Luna looked moody at this, and then Antares continued quietly: "I really wanted to see Scarlet Sage, I did. I don't know... why I didn't come in sooner, I don't know why I kept telling myself five-more-minutes, five-more-minutes, and I'm sorry for that, I am. If I'd left maybe even a minute earlier, I probably wouldn't have run into Vinyl Scratch. I probably wouldn't have been stopped by all her questions trying to get me to talk to Celestia for her or... whatever she wanted. And most importantly of all, I wouldn't have missed Scarlet Sage, and disappointed you both. I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. And I'm gonna promise that... I'm gonna remember this time, to try and not let this happen again. I feel really bad about all of this, and I see how upset you are with me, and... I know why you are and that I deserve it." Antares bowed his head forwards, and Luna sighed tiredly, looking moodily down at her son before she asked finally: "Is this true?' The colt nodded quickly, looking up and saying quietly: "Fluttershy saw me coming into town, too." Luna looked moodily down at her son, and then she finally closed her eyes and nodded, saying quietly: "Very well. Alright, Antares Mīrus, I... I am not the one to ask for forgiveness from, but thy sister is. If thou hurries... and by that I truly mean hurry, thou may be able to catch her at the clinic while she is still on break, and apologize to her." She paused meditatively. "And I am going to eat thy sandwich. Thou can have some simpler fare for lunch when thou returns." "Okay, I'll hurry." Antares nodded quickly with a relieved smile, and then he turned to bolt across town. Scrivener began to step forwards... but Luna reached a hoof up, grasping his shoulder and halting him with a quick shake of her head. "Our son made a mistake. Even though it is a great journey for a colt... we must allow him to fix it. That, and Ponyville is a safe place, even these days, and we can always send our invisible eyes after him." Luna smiled after a moment, glancing towards Scrivy as the earth pony sighed quietly and nodded with a grumble. "Come, Scrivener. Inside. Thou shall feel better, and we can use Celestia's scrying mirror to keep an eye upon our child. I think 'twill be good for all concerned." Scrivener grunted after a moment, turning to follow the winged unicorn into the library and tossing one last, nervous look after Antares... but the foal himself ran onwards without looking back, focused on finding his older sister and on apologizing for what he'd done wrong. What he knew and understood he'd done wrong... and he only hoped that he was able to explain himself to her. More important than that, he hoped he'd be able to earn her forgiveness, one way or the other, and get her to understand that he was honestly sorry. The colt hurried through the town, anxiously darting around ponies here and there and tossing awkward smiles at the few that called out to him, but not slowing down, focused on not letting Scarlet Sage down this time... on getting to his big sister, telling her sorry, asking for her forgiveness and getting her to understand. Somehow, that last felt so important: getting her to understand. And he was aware, even then, she might still be angry, she might still be upset... and she had every right to, too, he knew. He wasn't about to stop because of that, though... he was going to reach out to her, and try his hardest. He was going to handle himself with what his Mom and Dad always called 'honor.' Rushing as fast as he could and ignoring the stitch that eventually formed in his side, Antares managed to catch up to Scarlet Sage just outside the medical clinic, half-yelling and half-wheezing her name as he ran towards her. The Pegasus looked surprised as she glanced over her shoulder, eyes widening in disbelief before she hurriedly turned around, the nurses' hat she wore for work almost falling off her head. "Antares?" "I... caught... you..." Antares wheezed, and then he fell forwards before shaking his head out, the foal scrambling back up to his hooves and smiling up at her, breathing hard as he began in a rush: "I'm sorry, I really, really am, and I wanted to catch you and say sorry and thank you and I really didn't mean-" "Whoa, whoa, slow down, Antares, it's okay." Scarlet Sage said quickly, and then she glanced over her shoulder towards the clinic doors before gently motioning the foal to the side, and the two ponies stepped away from the front of the building, ponies passing curiously by but thankfully giving them privacy, at least for the moment. "Look, Antares, thank you for coming by, but... it's okay. I know you're just a kid and... things... slip sometimes, we all go through that." Scarlet Sage said gently, looking down at him softly as Antares gazed back up at her worriedly. "When... when I was about your age, I went through that. The timing was... kind of awful, though, admittedly, because that was also when... I lost my blood parents. "You're a smart little colt, Antares, and you're a good little brother. I'm glad we're family, I honestly am." Scarlet Sage smiled after a moment, then she sighed a little and said softly: "But do you understand that... everything around you, everything you're experiencing right now, is worth... so much? Do you understand that your inaction... I mean, the stuff you don't do... has just as much of an effect on the world as the things that you do do?" Antares nodded quietly and bowed his head, feeling a twist of shame run through his body as he said softly: "I do. Or at least... I do now. I felt awful about missing you this morning, and all I could think of was saying sorry to you. Letting you know how I feel and... and that I really am sorry. I want you to understand that... you know, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, and I'm not trying to mess up so much lately, it just... it just keeps happening. And I miss you a lot, too, big sister." Scarlet smiled faintly at this, and then Antares looked up, studying her, understanding her so he could better help her understand him, as he said slowly: "I know that I made a mistake, so I'm not even going to ask for forgiveness. But I do want you to know at least, that I am very sorry. That I'll try my hardest to never let it happen again. And that I really do love you and you mean a lot to me. I hope this doesn't sound mean but... I'm glad... Mom and Dad adopted you, because you mean a lot to me and I don't think things would be the same any other way. And I'm glad that you and Apple Bloom are still in Ponyville and are both so good to me, that means a whole world to me too." Scarlet Sage smiled softly, and then she nodded slowly before Antares finally looked up and met her eyes, saying honestly: "I'm sorry. And whether you forgive me or not, I promise I'll try harder in the future. And I won't let you down if I can ever help it, Scarlet, not ever." "I know you won't. Thank you, Antares." Scarlet Sage stepped forwards and swept him up in a tight hug, and Antares hugged his big sister firmly back, nestling his head against her breast before he twitched a bit as he felt a tremble run through him, but he pushed it away for the moment as unimportant before Scarlet Sage stepped back and gazed down at her little brother with a smile. "And I do forgive you... now go on, Antares. Go back to Mom and Dad... and I know Mom can be... you know, but..." "I know." Antares smiled after a moment up at his older sibling, and then he nodded quickly before turning quickly and hurrying off, calling over his shoulder: "Thanks, big sis!" "I... wait, Antares!" Scarlet began, but Antares was already rushing off... and for a few moments, the Pegasus only stared at the small, retreating form of the foal before she finally gave a quiet laugh and shook her head in slow amazement, murmuring: "Well, I guess you'll notice soon enough, anyway." Antares hurried back through town, going at an easier pace this time but still not dawdling, desperate to show that he was going to work harder in the future. He reached the library after only ten minutes, then he bit his tongue as his horn glowed, pushing the door open with a grimace of concentration before he hurried through and kicked it closed behind him. He smiled awkwardly at the gathered group: his parents,Twilight – who he often lumped in as a third parent, however weird he was by now aware that was – and Celestia all smiling at him. For a moment, it almost made Antares nervous as he looked back and forth... and then Luna stepped forwards and gestured to him gently, and Antares blushed before trotting over to her and smiling when his mother leaned down and embraced him tightly. "Thou did well, my son. And almost as important than that..." She drew back, looking down at him softly and stroking under his chin before she reached back and patted his side, and Antares cocked his head curiously, then gazed over his shoulder... and stared in shock at the sight of his hip. There was something there... and Antares almost spun in a circle to see what it was, beginning to babble as excitement rose up in his body: "Wow! Is it really, is it really, I mean, Mom, is it really... did I really get my cutie mark? What is it, what does it look like, is it-" "Slow down, Antares!" Luna laughed and shook her head, smiling warmly down at her son as Scrivener strode forwards with a smile, and Celestia and Twilight both slipped away from the table as well to gaze warmly down at the foal, Twilight carrying a small mirror in a telekinetic grip. The violet mare guided this down as Antares blushed and stood in the spot, gazing into the mirror raptly as he took it in his own telekinetic grip to guide it to see the cutie mark clearly... and he smiled happily at the strange emblem, as Luna murmured: "'Tis fitting. 'Tis perfect for thee." "Wow..." Antares whispered: his cutie mark was a constellation of nine brightly gleaming points of stars, with thin white lights between them illustrating what looked like a blossomed rose. Luna grinned over at Scrivener, who shrugged embarrassedly and glanced back at the emblem on his own flank, before he returned his eyes to his son when Antares said worriedly: "Wait, what does it mean? The only things I've done today were... I mean, running, and... being kind of... you know... it doesn't... it doesn't mean I'm bad, does it?" "I want thou to think of what thou hast done today... apart from thy bit of trouble, I mean." Luna replied kindly, and Antares nodded quickly, frowning as he looked down thoughtfully. Luna bounced a bit from hoof-to-hoof, and Scrivener gave her an amused look... but then again, he could feel her excitement as well, wanted to tell the answer himself... and he thought even Celestia looked like she was barely holding back from simply telling Antares what had triggered it. The silence seemed to last forever, and Luna was grinding her teeth, hopping impatiently on her hooves before Antares finally looked up, understanding dawning on him as he said slowly: "I apologized but... more than that, I... I did that thing where I... understood her, like I did to get away from Vinyl Scratch. I looked at her and I looked into her and saw she wanted me to be honest and so I was... I... oh no, you don't think I lied to her, do you? I didn't mean to, I really just wanted-" "No, no, no. No, Antares, cease, 'tis alright!" Luna soothed gently, and she smiled and leaned forwards, shaking her head and gazing down at him compassionately. "Fear not, child. Thy talent is not for lies... thy talent is for seeing the true faces of others, for... understanding, as thou said. Aye, 'tis truly an admirable, enviable talent and skill that thou possesses, my son... and I am so truly, honestly proud of thee. More proud than I can begin to express." Antares blushed and bowed his head forwards, and Scrivener added softly: "It's an incredible skill, Antares. Something to nurture and cherish... it's like you inherited something bad... but... made it into something good. Something truly special." The foal brightened at this, raising his head proudly... and then Scrivener laughed quietly and shook his head slowly, gazing warmly down at his son. "It's a powerful skill. More powerful than a lot of people would give you credit for, I think, but that's to their loss. Don't be insulted when ponies or people underestimate you... take it as a compliment, and remember that your real friends are always going to know your true value, are always going to trust in your abilities and stand by you. What everyone else thinks doesn't matter... and either way, I don't think you're ever going to have a problem making friends, or being liked by people." He paused, then traded an amused smile with Luna. "Not like us, huh?" "Shut up, Scrivener Blooms, plenty of ponies like me! I am very popular." Luna retorted cheerfully, nodding a few times before she returned her eyes to Antares, gazing at him affectionately. "Handsome, beloved child... I am glad that thou hast earned thy cutie mark. And I am truly glad that... I can feel confident in thou using thy abilities for the betterment of others, not just the benefit of thine own self. All ponies have a talent: what shows the true mark of a pony is how they use that talent." Antares smiled brightly up at them, and then Luna and Celestia traded warm looks before the ivory equine asked curiously: "What are you thinking, Antares?" At this, the foal hesitated, glancing back into the mirror, and then he quietly passed it with telekinesis back to Twilight, who took it and set it gently aside on the table as she turned her curious gaze to the child. For a few moments, he hesitated, shifting back and forth... and then he finally looked up and smiled after another second of thought, gazing into Celestia's curious and warm amethyst irises. "I'm glad that I have so many ponies to help me out. To help keep me on the right path, because... I know I've always been able to just... say the right things, and sometimes I worry... I take advantage of that. But with you, and Twilight, and Mom and Dad around... I feel safer. I feel less like I'm going to do something bad." He nodded firmly, and Luna smiled warmly, nodding in agreement before she winked and grinned widely. "But now, handsome child, 'tis time for thy flying lesson with Rainbow Dash, Soarin' and Avalon. And better yet, 'tis time to show off thy cutie mark!" Category:Transcript Category:Story